Some of the planet's "vital signs" have reached "code red" and humanity faces "unequivocally a climate emergency," an international coalition of scientists, led by researchers at the University of Oregon, warns in a report released yesterday.

The text, titled "Scientists around the world warn of a climate emergency - 2022," indicates that 16 of the Earth's 35 "vital signs" used to assess climate change have reached record levels.

New data is released showing an increase in the frequency of "extreme heat events," an acceleration of forest cover loss due to fires, as well as an increased prevalence of the dengue virus. It is also reported that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have reached an all-time high of 418 parts per million.

William Ripple and Christopher Wolf are the main authors of the study, which has as co-authors 10 other scientists from the US and other countries, and which was preceded by the report "Scientists around the world warn humanity: Second warning", released five years ago also through the scientific journal BioScience and which was signed by more than 15,000 researchers from 184 countries.

In the same sense, the UN, quoted by Lusa, called yesterday for "an ambitious climate action" in face of the "insufficient" steps that it considers to have been taken to limit the increase of the planet's temperature to 1.5 degrees centigrade until the end of the century, as foreseen in the Paris Agreement.

"Governments should strengthen their climate action plans now and implement them over the next eight years," argued Simon Stiell, head of the UN Climate Change Convention, in a report on this multilateral instrument released on the eve of the UN climate summit, COP27, which will take place between November 6 and 18 in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Stiell noted that "the downward trend in emissions expected by 2030 shows that countries have made some progress this year," but warned that it is still far from "the scale and pace of emissions reductions needed."

The UN official called it "disappointing" that since the UN climate change conference in 2021 in Glasgow (COP26), only 24 of the 193 parties to the Paris Agreement have submitted plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"The decisions and actions of governments must reflect the level of urgency, the severity of the threats we face," he stressed, urging signatories to the Paris Agreement to attend COP27, which will take place November 6-18 in Egypt, "to show how (they) will implement it in their countries through legislation, policies and programs."